Hinge system for motor vehicle boot lid comprising an articulated arm and a sliding arm

ABSTRACT

A motor vehicle trunk door articulated to the ends of a first arm mounted pivoting, at its other end, about a vertical lateral pin integral with a body. The truck door moves from a closing position towards an opening position, substantially perpendicular to the closing position, by the first arm having a curved shape, and a second arm. One of the ends of the second arm is secured to the trunk door and the other end is mounted pivoting on a sliding sleeve mounted on a guide rail.

The invention relates to a motor-vehicle trunk door equipped with anovel hinge system provided with an articulated arm and a sliding arm.

Most motor-vehicle trunk doors are equipped with hinges articulated onsubstantially horizontal pins, and they are opened by an upwardrotational movement.

There are also known vehicles, generally of the utility type, which areequipped with a sliding door, the door being guided by a pair of lowerand upper rails, each cooperating with rollers mounted on an arm, whichitself is articulated on the door (European Patent A 401081).

The invention relates to a new hinge system for a motor-vehicle trunkdoor wherein the trunk door can be moved from closed position to an openposition in which it is disposed along a rear fender of the vehicle.

More particularly, the invention relates to a motor-vehicle trunk doorarticulated at one of the ends of a first arm mounted pivotally at itsother end around a vertical lateral pin integral with the chassis,characterized in that it is shifted from a closed position to an openposition, substantially perpendicular to the said closed position, bymeans of the first arm, which has curved shape, and of a second arm, oneend of which is fixed to the said door, while the other end is mountedpivotally on a slide (11) mounted in a guide rail.

According to one embodiment, the rail has the shape of an elbow, with afirst portion oriented obliquely relative to the plane of symmetry ofthe vehicle and extending from an interior point of the vehicle floor toa point situated near the middle of the rear of the vehicle, and with asecond portion extending from the said rear middle point, substantiallyparallel to the lower edge of the cutout of the trunk door, toward theside on which the said vertical lateral pin is mounted.

The first arm has curved shape such that, when this arm pivots aroundits vertical lateral pin, its concave part substantially fits the rearfender of the vehicle body, in the position corresponding to the fullyopen door.

The function of this arm is to move the trunk door from its closedposition to its fully open position, in which the door is disposed alongone of the rear fenders of the vehicle. For this purpose the curved armmust be able to pivot by an angle of at least 180°, preferably by about190 to 200°.

The function of the second arm is to control the kinematics of the doorduring pivoting of the first arm. In the absence of this second arm, thedoor, which is articulated at the other end of the first arm oppositethe pivoting pin thereof, could be oriented in undesirable manner and,in particular, could bump against the rear fender of the vehicle.

To this end, the second arm has such a length and the guide rail hassuch a shape that, during the initial stage of opening of the door, theycause the door to be shifted mainly in a direction substantiallytransverse to itself, after which they then make the door turn by about90° to ensure that it will be aligned along one of the rear fenders ofthe vehicle without damaging the vehicle body.

The door can be opened and closed manually or else by means of anelectric motor, which ensures pivoting of the curved arm around itslateral vertical pin integral with the chassis.

The present invention will be better understood from the descriptionhereinafter, provided with reference to the attached drawings.

FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 are schematic views illustrating a trunk door equippedwith a hinge system according to the invention in closed position, inslightly open position and in fully open position respectively.

In these figures there is illustrated the rear part of a motor vehicle 1having a chassis 2. For clarity of illustration, the vehicle roof andthe interior fittings (seats, floor) have been omitted. This vehicle isprovided with a trunk door 3 of curved shape which, in closed position,is received in a cutout 4. As regards the body, only the rear fenders 5are illustrated. At its lower part, where it is articulated on avertical pin 6, door 3 is connected to one of the ends of a curved arm7, whose other end is mounted pivotally around a vertical lateral pin 8integral with chassis 2 or with a member integral with this chassis. Thepoint of articulation of arm 7 on door 3 is situated approximately inthe left third of the width of the door.

The lower part of door 3 is also connected, close to its right edge, infixed manner, to one of the ends of a second arm 9, whose other end ismounted pivotally around a vertical pin 10, which is itself carried by aslide 11 capable of sliding in a rail 12 fixed to the vehicle chassis.Slide 11 can comprise, for example, a support 13 carrying pin 10 andmounted on rollers 14 that ensure sliding in the rail. Rail 12 has theshape of an elbow, with a first portion 12 a, which is orientedobliquely (at 45° for example) relative to the plane of symmetry of thevehicle and which extends from an interior point of the vehicle floor toan elbow 12 b situated near the middle of the rear of the vehicle, andwith a second portion 12 c, which extends from the said elbow,substantially parallel to the lower edge of cutout 4 of the door andtoward the side on which pin 8 is mounted.

In closed position, slide 11 is situated at the end of portion 12 aopposite elbow 12 b, as illustrated in FIG. 1.

The door is opened by pulling on handle 15 of the lock integrated in thedoor, with the effect of first releasing the lock and then causing thedoor, in a first phase, to be shifted in a direction substantiallyperpendicular to itself; this shift results from the fact that curvedarm 7 pivots clockwise around vertical pin 8 and that arm 9 causes thedoor to pivot counterclockwise around vertical pin 10, the end of arm 9opposite the door being subjected to displacement along a pathdetermined by rail 12. FIG. 2 illustrates one of the open positionsduring this first phase. This first opening phase is complete when slide11 arrives at elbow 12 b of the rail. From that moment on, the combinedactions of arms 7 and 9 cause the door to undergo a rotation arounditself by about 90° which, in combination with the pivoting action ofcurved arm 7, causes the door finally to become aligned along the leftrear vehicle fender, without touching it, as illustrated in FIG. 3.

In an alternative embodiment, the door could be opened by means of anelectric motor 16 that drives the pivoting arm 7 and that is actuated bya control button provided on a control panel.

The door is closed by inverting the movements of the opening process.

In an alternative embodiment, not illustrated, the hinge system for avehicle trunk door according to the invention can be integrated with adoor that can cooperate, via its end section closest to second arm 9,with a second door. The two doors form a device that blocks the cutoutgiving access to the trunk.

The blocking device can be provided with two doors equipped with thehinge system according to the invention or with one door equipped withthe hinge system according to the invention plus one swinging doorarticulated around at least one vertical pin. To improve the kinematicsof the doors of such a device, especially the independence of opening ofeach door relative to the other door, the end of first portion 12 a ofrail 12 not connected to elbow 12 b must be oriented obliquely, at anangle greater than 45°, relative to the plane of symmetry of thevehicle. As an example, this end can be oriented substantially parallelto the lower edge of the cutout, for example at an angle on the order of80° relative to the plane of symmetry of the vehicle. Thus, at thebeginning of the first opening phase, the door is caused to shift in adirection substantially parallel to itself and then in a directionsubstantially perpendicular to itself, as seen hereinabove.

The invention is of course not limited to the described and illustratedembodiments, which are provided by way of illustrative andnon-limitative examples.

What is claimed is:
 1. A motor-vehicle trunk door articulated on one ofends of a first arm mounted pivotally at another end around a verticallateral pin integral with a chassis, wherein the trunk door is shiftedfrom a closed position to an open position, substantially perpendicularto the closed position, by the first arm, which has a curved shape, andby a second arm, a first end of the second arm being fixed to the door,while a second end of the second arm being mounted pivotally on a slidemounted in a guide rail.
 2. A trunk door according to claim 1, whereinthe guide rail has a shape of an elbow, with a first portion orientedobliquely relative to a plane of symmetry of a vehicle and extendingfrom an interior point of a floor of the vehicle to a point situatednear a rear middle point of a rear of the vehicle, and with a secondportion extending from the rear middle point, substantially parallel toa lower edge of a cutout of the trunk door, toward a side on which thevertical lateral pin is mounted.